


At the End of the Day

by NoelleAngelFyre



Category: Animaniacs
Genre: Canon Compliant, Character Study, Dialogue Light, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Gen, Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Protective Siblings, Quote-inspired, Sibling Bonding, Sibling Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-06
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 15:28:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,598
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22139317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/NoelleAngelFyre/pseuds/NoelleAngelFyre
Summary: "So much of what is best in us is bound up in our love of family that it remains the measure of our stability because it measures our sense of loyalty." – Haniel LongAt the end of the day, he's still their big brother. And at the end of the day, he must still be doing something right.
Relationships: Dot Warner & Wakko Warner, Dot Warner & Wakko Warner & Yakko Warner, Dot Warner & Yakko Warner, Wakko Warner & Dot Warner, Wakko Warner & Yakko Warner, Yakko Warner & Dot Warner, Yakko Warner & Wakko Warner
Comments: 14
Kudos: 348





	At the End of the Day

At the end of the day, they've kept up their reputation: a legacy of sorts, immortal in its own right. The song says it all: they run around the movie lot. They're captured by the not-too-terribly-bright security guard. They're locked back in the water tower. They escape. They run around the movie lot and bring laughter, zaniness, and the overall joys of pure chaos to Burbank. It's a simple life, fit for untamed children of unknown origin and equally unknown species.

At the end of the day, they'll never truly be caught.

At the end of the day, they've had the usual sit-down with the good ol' P-sychiatrist. Scratchie tells them not to call him a "p-sychiatrist". He also tells them not to call him "Scratchie". One of these days, maybe he'll stop. But for now, he just shrugs his shoulders and slumps in his chair and groans, all while running hands up and down his face, making even more wrinkles and lines than there already are. It's what he always does after they're done with him, while they're skipping (or bouncing) out the door, telling "Scratchie" they'll see him next week. Once again, he says don't call him "Scratchie". He knows they don't listen.

At the end of the day, they know he likes it.

At the end of the day, they've managed to loosen (maybe even remove) a few more grey hairs from the fading bunch on Plotz's oversized head. The chairman rants, screams, and of course makes the attempt to drop-kick them out of his office. He always misses the mark; must be an unfortunate side-effect of not having a neck. They always slip back in to finish the job: root through his files (Wakko makes a snack out of half of them), play with his pens (he'll have some kind of new mustache or beard after they're done), and finally they make for the window before he can call security in to grab them. He really should know better; should know that he'll never catch them.

At the end of the day, they know he still doesn't get it.

At the end of the day, the boys have made their usual advances on the blonde voluptuous figure in a white dress and heels. She might be used to it now, might even be prepared for it, really: this lovely nurse whose real name is permanently lost to the delighted proclamations of youth. It's hard to say who makes the first move this time, Yakko or Wakko. Last time it might have been Wakko, dropping down into her un-expecting arms with that goofy little smile on his face. This time it might have been Yakko, pouncing and giving the nurse yet another kiss. And always, Dot, arms folded over her chest, shakes her head impatiently as she mutters under her breath. When all is said and done, the nurse will be left frazzled and (more often than not) mussed.

At the end of the day, they know she'll keep putting up with it. By now, she might even like it.

At the end of the day, they've returned to the water tower. By all considerations, the tower should be deemed their prison: this place in which every person in the studio strives to contain them. But at the end of the day, it's still the place to which they always return. They've lived there long enough, and after seventy or so years of living in the same place, it becomes home. It's the place where they can be together, a place where they are safe.

At the end of the day, they'll always come back home.

At the end of the day, Yakko has made sure both Wakko and Dot have eaten their fill. Dot always gets to eat first, otherwise there won't be anything left for her. While Wakko is finishing off the scraps on his plate, Yakko nudges his sister off to brush her teeth. 

“Mel Gibson isn't coming anywhere near you if you don't brush up.” He tells Dot with a wink. She giggles and skips off to the sink, the gauzy pink cloud of her nightgown fluttering around her knees. She looks like a little princess when she's not angry. But even when she's angry, she's a cutie—at least, that's the story the big brother is sticking by.

Wakko soon follows her into the bathroom. As Yakko moves to clean up the table, he counts the seconds before he'll hear the usual bickering and squabbling.

Twelve, tonight…that's a new record.

“C'mon, guys, don't make me come in there!” Yakko calls out. He doesn't scold. He never scolds. He doesn't need to. His siblings don't like to imagine him angry—heck, he doesn't even want to imagine what he'd be like angry. All in all, it doesn't really matter, because no matter how much they bicker and fuss at each other, the Warners never stay mad at each other for long.

At the end of the day, they'll always stick together.

The bickering stops, and all that follows is the occasional twist and turn of the water facet. Yakko knows they're silently arguing over how much water they each need.

Both emerge, Wakko in his matching blue pajamas, red cap lying skewed on his head. Both he and Dot make for the bunk beds. Wakko is the first up the ladder, but Dot stops and looks to her oldest brother. The ‘cute eyes’ come out with a vengeance: eyelashes batting, smile wide, innocent and imploring, and of course, hands clasped behind her back while she shifts ever so slightly in place.

Yakko rolls his eyes but complies all the same, scooping her up in his arms and heading for the bed. Her arms wind around his shoulders, clinging as she used to in her infant years. As they draw closer to the bunk, Yakko sees Wakko's eyes peering over the rail of his bed, looking put-out as he watches his brother put Dot to bed. Yakko lifts his head, finds his brother's eyes, and throws him a pointed wink and smile. It’s a promise that tomorrow night, he'll be the one carried to bed. Wakko grins, understanding and (no doubt) relishing his anticipated little triumph over ‘the cute one’.

At the end of the day, they still love each other.

***

The night has grown dark: by now, moonlight is the only source of illumination to peer through the window, and even that is dodgy at best. At the bottom bunk, Yakko drifts between sleep and not-quite-sleep. Perhaps in a bit, he will allow himself the luxury of sleep; after all, it's not easy leading the trio of chaos day after day. But for now, he fights exhaustion, tooth and nail, for the security and comfort which his siblings bring to him through the simple sounds of their sleep: Wakko's light snoring and occasional, nonsensical mumblings, and the sound of Dot turning about in her sheets, trying to find a more comfortable position before she can properly drift away into her ‘cutie sleep’.

At the end of the day, they still bring him comfort—even in their silence.

Yakko’s eyes grow heavy, and exhaustion wins the battle for a little while. Then, suddenly, he finds his slumber disturbed by a strange phenomenon: this curious sensation of being intently watched as he sleeps (or tries to sleep, as the case stands). At first, he considers it a trick of a sleep-addled mind: nothing new or to be concerned with. But the sensation doesn’t go away, and he finally gives in.

The darkness clouds any real details on the two figures standing at his bedside, but he doesn’t need any details to identify them. Their silhouettes are as clear as if they were outlined in neon lights. They stand a bit away, perhaps cautious of waking him. Still he can feel their eyes, watching and waiting for a sign to show he is awake. He knows they’ll eventually return to bed if he doesn’t respond. They don’t want to disturb him.

He shifts slightly to the left and lifts up the blanket in a silent invitation. In half a second, they’re both there, curled up with him on a bed which was never meant to hold all three of them, but tonight it will serve as needed.

Wakko is the first under the covers, tucking his head on Yakko's chest and assuming a curled position against the elder sibling. Dot is half a step behind, curling close to her oldest brother with head at rest on his stomach. Her ears flop forward, tickling Yakko’s fur, as she nudges closer, encouraged by the arm he drapes around her shoulders. The other arm moves identically around Wakko, bringing both siblings as close as he possibly can. A broad, content smile curves Yakko's mouth as he settles back against the pillow.

“So, sibs,” he murmurs, “How about tomorrow we do something about these bunk beds?”

A sleepy mumble of agreement comes from both siblings as they slowly nod against their brother. A few short seconds later, both are fast asleep. Their breathing drifts throughout the tower, peace and tranquility all-but radiating from both. Dot no longer tosses and turns, and Wakko's usual nighttime mutterings have ceased. Content at last, Yakko smiles and closes his eyes again, this time welcoming the bliss of exhaustion. He can sleep soundly, knowing he will keep his siblings safe till dawn, and he will be safe between them.

At the end of the day, he must still be doing something right.

**Author's Note:**

> And the moral of today's story is: "Siblings are children of the same parents, each of whom is perfectly normal until they get together." (quote by Sam Levenson)
> 
> Comments are love, should you be so kind. :) Goodnight, everybody!


End file.
